kathopanishad-1-1-3-pītodakā

Commentary by Swami Krishnananda of the great Divine Life Society

Pītodakā jagdha-tṛṇā dugdha-dohā nirindriyāḥ anandā nāma te lokās tān sa gacchata tā dadat (1.1.3) is the third mantra. The venerable father, wanting to enjoy the joys of heaven and trying to follow the conditions of the sacrifice meant for that purpose, was giving cattle in charity. Perhaps, as was the case in ancient times, cattle were considered as real wealth, more than gold and silver, which was not respected very much. Generally people did not own coins, currency notes, gold and silver, as much as cattle. Cattle wealth was great wealth. So when cattle were given as gifts in charity, it was tantamount to giving whatever wealth one has. Cattle were being offered as gifts. What kind of cattle?

Here is the peculiarity of the situation which touched the very heart of this little boy. The boy was not foolish; he was intelligent. He had a sense of what was proper and what was not proper. What was he seeing? Cattle were being given in gift. What kind of cattle? Pītodakā: They had drunk water for the last time. They would not drink further. Jagdha-tṛṇā: They had chewed grass for the last time. They would not be able to eat grass further on. Dugdha-dohā: They had been milked for the last time, and further milk would not come from them. Nirindriyāḥ: They were so weak that they were tottering. They could not even walk properly. They were in the lowest ebb of their life principle, weakened by starvation—bony cattle that could not eat grass further, could not yield milk anymore, and could not even drink water. Such cattle were being given as gifts. Very surprising indeed!

What does ‘gift’ mean? Charity means the giving of that which we love most. It does not mean simply giving something. Our heart has to go a little bit by the process of alienation, and our joy should diminish a little because of a part of our joy going to contribute to the joy of another person. If we do not share a little of our love and joy, and do not contribute thereby to the joy of some other person, any kind of giving in that condition cannot be regarded as a gift. If we have lost nothing by giving, we have given nothing. And if the person receiving actually receives nothing, the gift has not been received. So if cattle which were about to die were offered like dead coins or broken currency notes, Vajasravasa really lost nothing because he had given things which were of no value whatsoever. Because the things that he gave in gift had no value, he had lost nothing, and because of that very reason, the person receiving also received nothing. So it was a big game of pretentious sacrifice.

The boy was looking at this. What did he feel inside? People who give charities and gifts of this kind go to joyless worlds: anandā nāma te lokās tān sa gacchata tā dadat. The child felt: “My dear father does not know even this much. The joyless, grief-stricken realms will be the result that follows from the gifts pretentiously offered in this manner. I am also a belonging; therefore, I too have to go as a gift. All things that belong to my father should go in charity. As I am his son, I belong to him, and so I must also go, and he must offer me as a gift to somebody.”